A Small Vacation
by Sam Llarh
Summary: Ranma gets dragged to a house party by Hiroshi and Daisuke, and under the influence of his own pride and a generous amount of alchohol, accepts a bet which will have far reaching consequences for himself and others. Rated PG-13 for some adult situations.


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A Small Vacation

by Sam 

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The Party

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Ranma felt really uncomfortable wearing Daisuke's clothes. He didn't like jeans, even if the black ones, at casual glance, did look like his favourite canvas pants. They were far to restricting, and he'd probably tear them if he had to get into a fight. The shirt wasn't so bad, except for one thing. It was a long-sleeved shirt, meaning he wasn't feeling cold, despite the slight chill to the wind. It was an almost black dark blue. The problem was that it was a small, and it was made for a person Daisuke's size, not his... meaning it was skintight to him all over... Making him feel exposed, like a piece of meat. He was pretty sure if he flexed his stomache, he'd be able to see the individual ridges in his muscles through the shirt.

And the boots. He didn't even want to think about them. Daisuke called them 'Combats', and said he'd gotten them from his cousin Kensuke. Ranma didn't know what kind of combat they could possibly be used for, but it couldn't be anything he was familiar with. He couldn't feel the ground through them, and they didn't let him move his ankles around as much as he'd have liked.

"Dai, 'Roshi... I don't really feel like going to some lame party, guys." Ranma protested vainly as his two friends pushed him along the streets. It was just a month after the horrible events at Jusendo and the failed wedding, and he really wasn't in the mood for a bunch of socializing with people he didn't know.

"C'mon, Ranma! It'll be a blast, man!" Daisuke grinned, one hand pushing Ranma's left shoulder and the other merrily swinging a bag full of bottles of liquor stolen from his parent's liquor cabinet. "It's a huge party Kensuke is throwing! There's gonna be loads of people there, not to mention lots of girls..."

"Dai, when do I need more girls?" Ranma snorted, looking over his shoulder at his friend. "Haven't I got enough problems with the ones who're going nuts over me as is?"

"Yeah, Ranma... but these ones probably aren't going to be falling in love with you!" Hiroshi chimed in, doing his bit pushing Ranma's right shoulder and toting a larger bag, containing some of the bottles of beer and sake he'd gotten from his older brother. He chuckled. "Lust, maybe... but not love! No problem on that one!"

"Now wait a minute!" Ranma set his feet, and both boys stumbled a bit as he suddenly became an immovable object. "I ain't gonna do THAT with no girls at this party!"

"Awww, why not, Ranma?" Hiroshi groused, folding his suddenly free hand under his arm. He gestured widely, taking in their surroundings. "You could have any girl you wanted at the party, no prob!"

"'Roshi, think about that for a sec, man." Daisuke tossed in, tapping a finger to his head. "I mean, really think about it. What if Akane or any of the other girls found out about him doing something like that? Our amigo gets in enough trouble with the ladies as is, don't you think?"

"Not to mention I wouldn't do nothing like that in the first place!" Ranma shouted, glaring impotently at Hiroshi and Daisuke, his arms crossed. "You're both perverts, damn it!"

"Aw c'mon, Ranma!" Daisuke grinned, nudging Ranma in the ribs. "A little fun didn't hurt anybody!"

"I'd be one of 'em." Ranma muttered, pointing at Daisuke. "Think about how bad Akane reacts when Shampoo glomps me!"

"True enough, true enough..." Hiroshi agreed, shaking his head. "Too bad you feel that way, Saotome. I don't think any of 'em would ever figure it out. We told all of 'em we were going to a movie, and this party's all the way over in Juuban!"

"Still, I ain't gonna do it, and that's all I got to say about it." Ranma said, shaking his head.

"At least we can get you hammered!" Daisuke grinned, holding up the small bag he carried. "I've got enough of this 'Tequila' stuff to floor ten people!"

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"Kensuke, great to see you man!" Daisuke shouted, just to be heard over the thumping techno blaring from the speakers throughout the house. He grabbed his cousin in a huge hug, and then let him go. "I brought a couple friends!"

"Hiroshi, how've you been, man?" Kensuke asked, running one hand through unruly dark blonde locks and offering the other to Hiroshi, who grabbed it with a resounding slap and shook it once.

"Ah, fine." Hiroshi said, opting to simply grin as he took in the party. Already there were forty or fifty people hanging around, and the party didn't officially start for another half hour. "Nice place, man. I can't believe your parents let you use it for a party this big!"

"Well... They don't know." Kensuke said, returning Hiroshi's infectuous grin. He gestured to the living room, where a few girls were already beginning to dance. "My mom and dad are on a vacation right now... only reason I didn't go with 'em was because I had to finish up my exams, and dad couldn't get the flight changed. So, poor old Kensuke had to just stay at home."

His gaze moved past Hiroshi, to fall on Ranma himself, and his grin widened, if that were at all possible.

"Ranma Saotome himself!" Kensuke announced, and Ranma smiled nervously at being recognized, having bad experience with people knowing his name before they'd seen him. "If half the things my cousin says about you are true, it still must be an adventure being your friend, man!"

"Ah, he's probably making me out to be bigger than I am." Ranma said, scratching the base of his pigtail with one hand while offering his other hand to Kensuke, who quickly shook it. "Ain't like I'm some Dragonball character or nothin'. I'm just a martial artist."

"True enough, I guess. I don't see a tail, anyways!" The doorbell rang almost inaudibly over the music, and Kensuke ruefully shook his head as he peered over the rims of his glasses at his cousin. "Look, I gotta go greet the guests. Perils of being a good host, I guess. Dai, you and your friends make yourselves at home. Only rule is, don't go into any of the rooms that're locked!"

"Alright! Later, Kensuke!" Daisuke said, giving cousin a casual slap on the back as he walked past. Daisuke leaned in close to Ranma, clearly puzzled. "Alright Ranma, what's up? Why you making me look like a liar to my cousin?"

"Look, I gotta plan." Ranma said, his arrogant smirk plain on his face. "I'm just gonna be a nobody for tonight. I'm not wearing my normal clothes, and if I untie my pigtail and change the way it's tied, I'm a new man."

"But..." Hiroshi looked at Ranma, and scratched his head. "What about your curse? If you get splashed, you won't be able to hide the fact you're decidedly less male, man. No matter how different your clothes are and no matter how you change your hair, you aren't gonna be able to disguise it."

"You're right." Ranma said, deflating a bit at this. He glanced to his two friends, and the mighty Ranma Saotome actually sighed a bit, as his gaze finally dropped. "I just wanted to be a normal guy for one damned night. No fiances, no enemies. Just a normal guy like you two. I want to be able to forget the fights, forget the fact that I got people who'd gladly kill me and just be able to forget it all for one damned night. Stupid damned curse."

"I've got an idea." Daisuke said, and the grin on his face as he eyes the two of them looked almost manic. "Let's go up to Kensuke's room. This is too damned perfect, Ranma!"

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"You want me to wear... this?" Ranma deadpanned, staring at the synthetic piece of fabric adorned with zippers Daisuke had handed to him, after leading them to a room so filled with military paraphenilia that Ranma was almost tempted to question the owner's sanity. "It looks like it could barely fit Happosai, let alone me!"

"Hear me out, man!" Daisuke said, grinning. "This little bit of magic means that you can get splashed, and you very probably won't change at all tonight!"

"Probably?" Ranma muttered, arching one eyebrow as he looked at it appraisingly.

"Yeah, it keeps divers from getting too wet when they go in the water, so they don't suffer hypothermia. It's like a rubber glove for your body. Though... you still might change if you get it on the head or hands" Daisuke grinned as he pressed it towards Ranma, gesturing for him to give it a try. "Look, worst case scenario, the chicks won't be able to see your body quite as clearly through that shirt, meaning poor saps like me and 'Roshi get a better chance. Fair?"

"Alright, sure." Ranma grumbled, as he began to peel off his clothes. He dropped the shirt on the bed, and then looked at his two friends for a moment, pausing. "You guys wanna get out while I'm doing this?"

"Sure, Ranma." Hiroshi grinned, and both boys piled out the door. Ranma unzipped the jeans and slid them down his legs, and was just kicking them off when Hiroshi poked his head back into the door. "Oh, and Ranma? Zipper towards the back, pal."

"Get outta here!" Ranma growled, his hands dropping down to be splayed over his boxers in a loose approximation of modesty.

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As Ranma emerged from the bathroom, Daisuke flashed him a grin. Aside from slightly bulking up his torso and arms, and a narrow, barely noticable lump near the base of his neck where the wetsuit's zipper was zipped to, there was no indication of any sort that Ranma was wearing anything underneath his clothes.

"Looks good, man." Hiroshi grinned, and gave him a thumbs up. "Now you won't have to worry about any of the clowns hanging around here spilling drinks on you... aside from the smell of the beer on you, anyways. And that's why you're wearing Daisuke's clothing, not yours! So it's his problem!"

"Quiet, you." Daisuke growled, casually swinging at Hiroshi, who ducked under the attack. He turned his gaze to Ranma and rubbed his chin. "Now, what do we do about your hair, man? The way you get it cut doesn't really leave much in the way you can change it around."

"Well, I can just leave it unbound." Ranma said, shrugging as he untied the cord binding his pigtail. Long, glossy black hair fell in a pile down his pack, stopping just short of his shoulderblades. He glanced around and shrugged, reflexively running a hand through his hair as he pocketed the simple piece of string. "I guess that's all I can do."

"Not much you can do about it." Hiroshi agreed, shrugging as well.

"Well, Dai, 'Roshi... How do I look?" Ranma asked, folding his arms and looking at his two friends. They both returned his gaze for a moment, taking in the changes the trio had wrought in the last hour. The hair, the clothes, the boots... All completely unlike Ranma.

"Not bad, man..." Hiroshi finally said, looking Ranma up and down. Daisuke merely settled for nodding his agreement. "I've known you for over a year now, and I'd have trouble telling it was you if I hadn't seen it happen myself."

"Good, then." Ranma grinned, as he felt the faintest glimmer of hope. Maybe tonight would be different for him, afterall. Maybe he could look people in the face and laugh and joke with them, and not worry about curses, or enemies, or fiances (who sometimes fit into the second category of his trio of troubles!) for just one night.

"What about your name?" Daisuke cut in, suddenly frowning a bit. He began to pace back and forth in the hall, rubbing his chin. "We can't introduce you to anybody as Ranma Saotome. Word gets around, man. Right now you're just some bishi who, if any girls get that far, might be discovered to have a wetgear fetish. They hear your name, they can connect what they've heard of you with you right now, and all this hard work you've done to make yourself look... not-you will be undone. I can just tell my cousin about this little plan and he'll go for it, no problem."

"How about Tenchi Masaki?" Hiroshi questioned, grinning.

"Too well known." Daisuke said, putting it down. "Plus, if anyone with half a brain begins to think about OTHER people they've heard of with multiple girls hanging off them might begin to make some connections about Ranma's eyes. Blue ain't too common, 'Roshi. Hmmm... How 'bout Keiichi Morisato?"

"The gods might take that as an invitation." Ranma muttered darkly. "I got enough problems right now without deities coming down to Japan to make my life a living hell... Damn, I'm starting to sound like Ryouga!"

"How 'bout Shinji Ikari?" Hiroshi asked, looking at the two boys, who just stared back. "It was just a suggestion..."

"Hmmm, I dunno." Ranma muttered, scratching his head in consternation. "I've got it! We'll call me Ryu Shinoda. It's easy to remember, and it's not something anybody's gonna recognize from any TV shows or nothin'."

"Plus, no girl I've ever heard of is gonna make fun of your name when they check you out." Hiroshi grinned, gently shoving Ranma towards the stairs leading back to the party. "Ryu Shinoda, the babe magnet is born from the ashes of Ranma Saotome, the babe magnet!"

"And with the birth of Ryu comes my vacation from my life!" Ranma added, his grin returning.

"Let's get drunk!" Daisuke cheered, and the three boys dashed down the stairs towards the rest of the partygoers, anxious to get to the party.

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"C'mon Ryu, you've got to be joking!" Hiroshi croaked, handing the bottle to Ranma, who was firmly shaking his head. Hiroshi dropped the bottle, and grinned when Ranma caught it before it fell more than a centimeter or two. "Now, drink up, man! Keep up with us! You're getting drunk tonight, damn it!"

After heading downstairs, Daisuke had quickly explained part of the situation to Kensuke (who was still somewhat puzzled over Ranma's new look), who agreed to call him Ryu when he saw him... and then the trio had been drawn into a game of poker... which quickly became a round of drinking. The cards lay on the table, long forgotten as Hiroshi produced an seemingly neverending supply of liquor for the trio to drink as other people consumed other drinks.

"This crap burns, man." Ranma muttered, eyeing the evil bottle. He didn't know what this 'brandy' was, but it tasted fine untill it hit his throat, where it burned on it's way down and stayed warm in his stomache. With a shrug of his shoulders, he poured the brandy into the small glass he'd been given by Hiroshi and downed it in a single gulp, coughing a bit as the aftertaste hit him. He felt like he had no voice, but managed to rasp out "Your turn," to Daisuke as he handed him the glass and bottle.

"And the dragon has more of his fire, now!" Daisuke exclaimed with a grin, taking the bottle from Ranma and pouring the last of the liquor into the glass, which more or less equaled a shot. He downed it smoothly, seeming to savor the taste of the stuff as it made it's way across his tongue. "That does it for the brandy, guys. Time to move on to the tequila, I think."

Daisuke moved to stand, and then abrubtly sat back down. He looked across the room to where his bag was, and then chuckled a bit as he relaxed in his seat, his legs splayed out in front of him.

"On second thought, I think I'm gonna take it easy for a little while." Daisuke added, for which he recieved more than a little laughter from the guys around the table. "I dunno about 'Roshi and Ryu here, but the five or six shots are starting to catch up to me in a very good way."

"Same here, Dai." Hiroshi added with a bit of a hiccup. He didn't even try to stand. "I'm not moving anywhere for at least half an hour. How 'bout you, Ryu?"

"I dunno. I think I'm okay for now. I'm not drunk yet, I don't think." Ranma said, carefully testing his own ability to stand, which thus far remained largely unhindered. He stretched, relieving the tension in a couple joints with loud pops. "Ain't like my old man, at any rate. I don't feel like singing and dancing out in the middle of the night."

"Nah, you're probably a little drunk. You're just not feeling it yet!" One of the guys he'd just met, Kaneda, pointed out with a grin.

"Here, have a bottle of sake!" Hiroshi said, reaching under the table and sliding a small bottle of the stuff over to Ranma, who picked it up as he sat back down. He read the label and identified it as a rather cheap type, the kind his father usually drank while they were on the road. With a shrug, he opened it and took a swig. "Good man!"

As they talked with the guys at the table about the fine subject of drinking, one of the boys stopped in the middle of his speech on the upsides of drinking beer to stare in the direction of the front door. Ranma turned with the rest of them to look...

To see a girl. Not just any girl, but an absolutely beautiful girl, dressed in a long blue chinese-style dress, her brown hair held in thick artificial curls which brushed her shoulders as she walked through the house, waving casually to a few people she presumably knew, an impish smile infecting everyone it seemed to take in.

"Wow..." Daisuke muttered, staring in awe the girl as she continued past their table and out to the deck, where she was greeted by another girl. "Why can't we get girls like that at our school?"

"Hear hear!" Hiroshi agreed, slapping his hand twice on the table they were using to hold their drinks, bouncing the empty shotglass.

"She's not one of ours, much as I might be wishing she was right now!" Kaneda put in, staring out the door after her. "I know most of the girls at our school, and I'll be damned if I could miss one that looked like that. At our school, she'd definately be one of the more noticed ones."

"Definately not from our school, man." Daisuke countered, still staring out the door at the unnamed girl. He finally wrenched his gaze away to look at Ranma, a puzzled look on his face. "Looks kinda familiar, but I can't put my finger on it. Yo, Ryu... Is it one of yours? Izzat where I've seen her before?"

"One of Ryu's?" Toujiro put it, casting a sidelong glance at Ranma. He nudged the boy in the ribs, a grin on his face. "What stories have you been hiding from us, man?"

"Ah, it's nothing. And I ain't never seen her anywhere before." Ranma said, ignoring the feeling that she did indeed look familiar. He turned his cocky grin to Daisuke and Hiroshi, leaning back in his chair and holding his hands behind his head. "Besides, do I look dumb enough to let one who looks like that get away?"

"Yes." Deadpanned both Daisuke and Hiroshi at the exact same time. Hiroshi reached under the table and grabbed a beer for himself, and Daisuke continued. "Ryu, for all the babes you seem to attract, you're more than determined to shake most of 'em off."

"Hey, it ain't like I got a whole lot of choice." Ranma grumbled, leaning forward and crossing his arms on the table, resting his chin on the topmost forearm. He blew one annoying lock of hair out of his eyes, and it fluttered up to finally rest back at the side of his face.

"True enough, I guess." Hiroshi admitted, taking a swig of his beer. He stopped and pointed it at Ranma, a bit of foam bubbling up and running down the outside of the neck. "Y'know, Ra-er... Ryu, eventually you're gonna have to sort that mess out."

"Yeah, yeah." Ranma said, waving one hand and taking a swig with the other as he sat up. "I don't wanna talk about it, 'Roshi. That's why I'm here, remember? So I can have a night to not have to worry about that mess."

"Girl problems?" Kaneda guessed, taking a swig of his own beer as he peered at Ranma over the lip of his mug.

"You have NO idea." Ranma said, taking another swig of his sake. "I almost wish I'd get dumped. It'd make the whole thing a lot easier to deal with."

"Love triangle?"

"More like a love octogon where Ryu's involved... Ain't that right, Ryu?" Daisuke added the last with an evil smirk he levelled Ranma's way as he got up, and was more steady on his feet than he was the last time he tried the move. "Problem is that his own girl chasing skills are sadly underpar. They just flock to him right now. He's gonna have problems when he needs to actually work to get them after him!"

"Hey, that's not true!" Ranma growled at Daisuke's back as he headed over to this bag, retrieving the whole thing and bringing it back to the table. "I could get any girl here if I wanna and you know it!"

"Really, Ryu? Care to make a little wager on this?" Hiroshi asked, and looked towards Daisuke, who grinned as he spun the cap off the bottle of tequila, which had an evil-looking worm floating in the very bottom. "I'm willing to bet money on this one."

"Ha, the money's already mine!" Ranma crowed, grinning as he crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair. "How much do you wanna lose?"

"Not money. That's too easy, 'Roshi." Daisuke grinned, and then his grin widened as he considered something. "I've got the perfect idea, though. If you lose, you have to ask out one of your girls... Whichever one we choose."

"Nu-uh. No way. Ain't gonna happen, Daisuke." Ranma put in, shaking his head back and forth and sending his newly grown bangs flying. "I'm not stupid!"

"But Ryu, you said you could do it no problem!" Hiroshi put it, his own grin matching Daisuke's. "Who cares what the stakes are if you've got the win in the bag before the contest begins?"

"Fine! But if you guys lose, you've gotta help me cover my tracks once, no questions asked, no matter how violent a mood the girls look like they're in!" Ranma retorted, crossing his arms smugly as Hiroshi's face went pale and Daisuke broke into a sweat.

"Ryu, man... Those stakes aren't very fair. We're not stupid, either." Hiroshi said. "You're asking a lot of us if we lose, man."

"Who cares what the stakes are if you got the win in the bag?" Ranma echoed, a grin breaking on his face. He leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table, resting his face in his hands.

"Alright, but we get to choose who it is, Ryu." Daisuke said, grinning. "We won't choose anybody you can't get, like someone with a boyfriend, but anybody else is fair game... And you've gotta get her to give you her number and agree to meet somewhere else, some other time. Agreed?"

"Deal!" Ranma said, a grin blossoming on his face.

"Alright." Hiroshi said. He gestured with his beer to the porch. "We choose the girl with the curly hair, if she's still here. You know the one I'm talking about."

"Crap." Ranma muttered, and polished his sake.

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"So, Ryu... you gonna give it a shot now, or what?" Daisuke asked, grinning at Ranma around the bottle of beer he was drinking. "Or have you decided to just give up on our little contest and having to worry about dealing with a certain laugh?"

"Fine, fine... I'm gonna go and do it." Ranma grumbled, standing up. He glanced out the doorway, and saw the girl sitting at a table, all alone. It'd be now or never. He let out a breath and started over towards her... When a big blonde haired guy, American by the look of him, smoothly sat down and began talking to her. "Crap."

Looking back to Hiroshi and Daisuke, who'd seen the whole thing, he got no help. They were actually pointing and grinning, no doubt thinking the bet won before Ranma's attempt even began.

He turned back in time to see the girl angrily muttering over her shoulder as she looked at the American, her empty cup and his sodden state a big indication of what she thought of his attempt at conversation. Ranma had the barest second to take this all in before the girl marched right into him, taking them both down.

Instinctively grabbing her shoulders to help cushion her fall, Ranma fell backwards. With a resounding thud, his head bounced off the kitchen counter and they both hit the ground.

"Oh no, are you okay?" Ranma was vaguely aware of the girl getting off of him and trying to sit him up and he nodded his head, reaching a hand up to feel the spot he'd banged off the counter. When his hand came away, it was a little sticky with bloody. "Oh my gosh!"

"It's nothin', don't worry about it." Ranma muttered, slowly getting to his feet. A wave of dizziness, no doubt brought on by the combination of alchohol and the crack to the head, caused Ranma to stumble forward a step and lean on the counter. He looked at the girl his other hand cupping his head. "Really, I'm okay. Did you get hurt or anything?"

"No, I'm fine, but I'd better take care of that!" The girl insisted, grabbing on of Ranma's hands, she began to drag him off. "I'm not letting you walk around like that! Come on, we're going to the washroom so I can clean that out and see it better!"

Ranma allowed himself to be led from the spot, and as he passed the table where Hiroshi and Daisuke sat drinking... "Damn it, he's done it again!" The voice was too low for Ranma to make out for certain, but he was pretty sure it was Daisuke who'd said it. When he glanced back, Daisuke covered his face with one hand while shaking his head, and Hiroshi settled for draining the rest of his drink.

Ranma managed a weak grin for them, and then he was dragged out of sight.

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When they got to the upstairs washroom (the downstairs washroom being occupied by a pair of boys, one puking in the toilet and the other peeing in the furo), the girl forced Ranma to sit down on the toilet and flicked on the vanity lights, casting an even brighter glow on the top of Ranma's head.

"Hmmm, where do they keep the antiseptic..." The girl muttered, going through the drawers on the vanity. Now that she was in the light, Ranma got a chance to get a better look at her, and realized that she definately WAS familiar... but he still couldn't place her. He frowned as kicked his memory about trying to figure out who she was, but between the alchohol, the blow to the head, and his already poor memory for anything not related to fighting, eating, or sleeping, he just couldn't place her. "Here we are!"

With a flourish, she plucked a round tube out of a drawer, flashing him a grin. He returned it, but still felt rather woozy.

"Alright, let's see what I can do for that cut of yours." She said, walking over to Ranma and beginning to pick through his thick hair. She was silent for a small while, intently picking through his hair, unconscious of her breasts nearly shoving into Ranma's face. Ranma did his best not to notice her bust, but couldn't help but smell the blended scents of Jasmine and Rose. "Found it!"

Abruptly, Ranma felt a cool feeling wash over the minor heat of the cut he'd barely felt, and after a moment of light pressure applying the salve, the girl withdrew, replacing the cap on the antiseptic and putting it back into the drawer. Ranma rose, and found that while he was still a little dizzy, he was feeling better.

"Thanks." Ranma said, slowly smiling as he looked at the girl, her returning smile filling him with warmth while her face remained a mystery. He touched the gash on the back of his head and chuckled. "Sorry 'bout this."

"Don't worry about it." The girl said, waving his apology off with one hand. "I should have been watching where I was going, and if you hadn't been so quick, we both might have been hurt."

"Yeah, I guess." Ranma said, shrugging. He scratched his chin, and finally decided to just get it over with. "You look kinda familiar... What's your name?"

"Oh, I'd completely forgotten to introduce myself!" The girl exclaimed, her hands flying to cover her mouth. "I'm Sayuri Kino."

"My name's Ryu Shinoda." Ranma answered almost automatically, recognition finally dawning as he connected the girl in front of him with the girl Akane would eat lunch with at school. One thought was reverberating back and forth in his mind: How the hell was he going to manage to win the bet under these circumstances?

"Well, Ryu..." Sayuri said, grinning as she grabbed his hand. "Let's get back to the party then, shall we? We can grab a couple drinks and go sit in the gazebo in the lawn, alright?"

"Okay, sure." Ranma said, allowing himself to be pulled along with Sayuri as she left the washroom.

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When Ranma got downstairs, he noticed Hiroshi gesturing over to him wildly. Sayuri disappeared into the kitchen, promising to come back out soon with a couple of drinks for them, so Ranma walked over.

"Yo, Ryu... You'd better be careful, man." Hiroshi said, looking around. He leaned closer, and lowered his voice. "The American guy who got rejected by your mystery girl wasn't too happy that she upped and disappeared on him like that, especially when he heard it was with another guy. I think he might be looking for a fight."

"It's worse then that, man." Ranma groaned, glancing over his shoulder and seeing no sign of Sayuri. He sighed, and ran one hand through his hair. "That girl is Sayuri."

"Say again?" Hiroshi said, looking puzzled.

"Sayuri Kino. Goes to school with us. One of Akane's friends. That Sayuri!" Ranma hissed out, glancing again over his shoulder and still seeing no sign of her. "This bet ain't fair, man. I might have to use my winnings just to get outta it!"

"Well, tough luck, Ryu." Hiroshi said, grinning. He glanced over at Daisuke, who was unconscious, having toppled over in his chair to sleep on the floor snuggled up to an empty bottle of Tequila. "Dai'd be getting a kick out this. He will, once he wakes up."

"This ain't fair." Ranma groaned, and darted a look over his shoulder to see Sayuri just emerging from the kitchen. "We'll talk later."

"Enjoy, Ryu!" Hiroshi said, still grinning.

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"So, what kinda drinks are these?" Ranma asked, looking at the glass he was holding. It was a light blue, and it bubbled and fizzed like a soft drink... but he could smell the alchohol from it where he was. He and Sayuri were the only two in the moonlit gazebo, and he wasn't sure if he was grateful for it or not.

"Oh, this is something my friend Yuka taught me to make." Sayuri said, taking a sip of her own drink. "It's really good stuff. You mix this blue stuff with Sprite and it makes it taste just like a blue popsicle. Try it!"

With a shrug, Ranma took a sip of his drink, and he did notice that it was really good. He'd never really had many popsicles, but from what he remembered, he could see how someone could make that comparison. He set his drink down, carefully noting where he'd placed it.

"So, who do you know at this party?" Sayuri asked, a puzzled look on her face. "I saw Kensuke in the kitchen and he said you were here with one of his cousins, but none of my friends knew who you were when I asked them."

"Oh, I just kinda got dragged along." Ranma admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "I've been having a bad sorta year, and my entire life has been really crazy lately. My buddy told me I hadta come and relax."

"Hmm, you too?" Sayuri said, smiling to herself as she took another sip of her own drink. As Ranma casually compared his with hers, he noticed that his was a slightly darker blue. "I know a few people here, but mainly I wanted to get away. One of my friends... She's always the center of attention at our school, not to mention her obnoxious fiance."

"He's a bad guy?" Ranma asked, putting more force into the question than he'd intented. He took another sip of his drink to cover his face, which was blushing a bit at the fact he'd almost blown it.

"Well, yeah. He's stringing my friend and some other girls along, and he's always getting into fights around the school." Sayuri looked off into the distance, and Ranma almost felt like she was somewhere else. "He's nearly gotten her hurt with those fights he gets into, not to mention other people."

"Well, maybe he's just defending himself." Ranma pointed out, trying to keep his voice under control. It wasn't his fault he got into fights, and he wasn't stringing the girls along at all! "Sometimes people don't let you make a choice."

"Maybe some of them are unavoidable, but he doesn't even try. He's a real macho type. But forget about that. I didn't come here so I could talk about them. I came here to avoid that." Sayuri grinned impishly at him, and Ranma felt decidedly like prey for a few seconds as he saw something flash in her eyes. "So, what school has cute boys like you hanging around?"

"Oh, me?" Ranma asked, his mind racing furiously as he considered, discarded, and reconsidered names he could use. After half a second he decided. "I go to Crossroads Boy's School. I'm gonna be a teacher, someday."

Ranma winced, but was glad she didn't notice. Crossroads was the name of the JUNIOR high where he met Ryouga.

"Oh?" Sayuri asked, and Ranma noticed that she slided a little closer to Ranma when she thought he wasn't paying attention. "What do you want to teach, Ryu? I'll bet it's something neat, like History."

"Nah, it's something better." Ranma said, grinning and scratching the spot on his head where he normally had his bound pigtail. "I'm hoping to get my license to teach Kempo soon, but I gotta finish highschool first."

"Martial arts?" Sayuri groaned, pouting at Ranma and again, sliding a little closer. "Why would anyone want to teach martial arts for a living?"

"Well, I guess it's something I like to do." Ranma said casually, and covered up his blushing as Sayuri moved closer still by having a long drink of his beverage. "I mean, I don't wanna be cooped up in some boring old office every day, do you? If I teach martial arts, I get to help people get more in shape, and it helps them get in touch with their bodies."

"Really?" Sayuri said, and this time the slide over his way was not very subtle at all. Ranma took another sip of his drinkl. "Well, how would you like to help me get in touch with my body?"

"You wanna learn martial arts?" Ranma squeeked out, and by the way she grinned told him she wanted to do nothing of the sort. He would have slid away from Sayuri on the bench, but there was nowhere for him to slide to. Just as Sayuri was leaning in for a kiss, Ranma was grabbed from behind and yanked off the bench.

The first punch nearly caught him off guard, but Ranma didn't even have to use his inhuman speed or agility to get out of the way. He merely tilted his head, and the fist rocketed through the space his face had occupied not moments before. The second punch, tightly focused for someone who was clearly not a martial artist of Ranma's caliber, was easily dodged as Ranma got his feet under him and twisted, the blow flying through the area his solar plexus would have occupied and instead hit nothing but air.

Ranma took two steps to the side and spun around to face his opponent, grinning when he realised it was the American, wanting a fight. This was something he could deal with. Any excuse to get out of that awkward situation was a good one. He cocked his head to the side, eyeing the blonde boy as he clenched his fists and faced off with Ranma wordlessly.

Hiroshi appeared with the rest of the crowd as it gathered, anticipating the fight. He hung back, and as Ranma dropped into a ready stance, he saw Hiroshi frantically waving his arms... and Ranma understood. He would have to severly limit himself, if he wanted to be just a "normal" martial artist. He couldn't leap over the man and hit a pressure point on the back of his head, like he wanted to.

"What's the big idea?" Ranma complained, staring at the guy. His eyes flickered to Sayuri, who was looking worried as she glanced between Ranma and the American. He shrugged, dropping his ready stance and facing the other young man defenselessly. "Why would ya attack me outta nowhere like that, ya big jerk?"

"Keep your damnable hands off my girl." The American growled, taking a swing at Ranma, who stepped back out of the way of the swing. "Sayuri is mine, Shinoda."

"I don't belong to you, Mike!" Sayuri yelled, crossing her arms and glaring at the blonde boy. "I went on one date with you!"

"Sounds like she made her decision." Ranma tossed out, cracking his knuckles. "Now, you're gonna tell me that I can't talk to her just 'cause you say so. I don't think so, pal. I ain't gonna back down because some jerk says so."

Mike was a good head taller than Ranma, and considerably broader in the shoulders. Anyone seeing the two would make the natural assumption that Mike was stronger than "Ryu". This would have been true, but for the training Ranma had, which quite simply meant that nothing about his fighting ability could really be gleaned based on appearance alone... but based on Ranma's slender, swimmer-like muscles, Mike assumed he had an advantage in power.

So, when he swung at Ranma and found himself hit once in the face, he collapsed into unconsciousness before he could register his new enemy's incomprehensible strength.

"Oops." Ranma grinned, scratching the base of his skull and looking down at his unconscious opponent. He toed him with one booted foot, and when he got no reaction, he shrugged. "I guess I got a lucky shot it."

â€¢—â€¢â€¢—â€¢â€¢—â€¢

"That was... pretty good." Sayuri said, sipping her water. Ranma just glanced over at her as she put her cup down and grinned, folding his arms behind his head as he lay back on the bench. "I'm surprised you were able to beat Mike. From what I heard, he's over here training to be one of the best martial artists in the world."

"Bah, he had no focus." Ranma dismissed, waving one hand. He sat up, thinking for a moment. "His technique wasn't all that bad, but he was a little too predictable, and he committed to his strikes a little too easily. Things coulda gone differently if he'd been thinking a little better and he didn't attack me so angry."

"Yeah, but you creamed him!" Sayuri said, and in her excitement, she knocked her glass over, spilling cold water on Ranma's stomache. Ranma yelped at the cold, and sat up, watching the water run down his shirt, getting it sopping wet. "Oh, I'm sorry!", and almost inaudibly, "I could have sworn..."

"Don't worry about it." Ranma said, waving one hand. He grabbed a towel draped over a nearby railing and dabbed it on his shirt, doing much to dry it. "It's just water, it'll dry. So... what's this guy's deal, anyways?"

"Well, I went on one date with him, and that's it." Sayuri said, tapping a finger to her lips. Finally, she shrugged. "I have no idea. I didn't really like him much at all, and told him so. Now, he gets really jealous whenever he sees me with any other guy, and tries to threaten them into staying away from me."

"Well, what about A-... your other friends?" Ranma asked, looking at her. He sat back down next to her, careful to avoid the damp spot. "I mean, couldn't you tell one of 'em about it to get some help?"

"Who could I tell?" Sayuri asked, almost bitterly.

"Well, what about your friend, and her fiance?" Ranma asked, glancing at her. "They're martial artists, right? Couldn't they have stepped in and helped you out, or something?"

"It wouldn't be a good idea to get involved with them like that." Sayuri said, shaking her head as a small smile broke her face. "Knowing them, they might find a way to make things worse, not better. Now, where were we, anyways?"

"Hmm?" Ranma suddenly realised she had The Smile on again. Ranma only saw THAT smile on Nabiki, usually. It was, on the surface, a nice smile. It showed the wearer to be happy. But as one stared at this smile, one realised that there was some intangible quality about the smile that caused one's survival instinct to start screaming for one to run as far and as quickly as superhumanly possible. And so it was that Ranma froze like a deer on a highway about to be turned into venison steaks by the grill of a tractor-trailer as Sayuri leaned in on Ranma again.

As the hunter closed in, a beeping emerged from her wrist, and so it was that the prey was once again spared.

"I'm sorry, but I've got to leave, Ryu." Sayuri said, pouting and biting her lip as she sat back on the bench, crossing her arms. "I've got a curfew tonight, and I can't break it. It was really nice meeting you, though."

"Yeah, it was nice." Ranma admitted, and as he thought about it, he realised that it had been nice to sit and talk with someone. "We should talk again sometime."

"Well, here." Sayuri handed Ranma a folded sheet of paper, and as Ranma unfolded it, he recognized the neat handwriting common to most girls spelling out a phone number, along with Sayuri's name done in pink. "This is my home number, just ask for me when you call. But I've got to go now. Bye, Ryu!"

As she stepped past, she leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and flashed him an impish smile before darting off, into the house and out of the party. Ranma stared down at the piece of paper, and thought.

Thinking about it, it was nice. Hiroshi and Daisuke were right.

The party was a good idea as a way for Ranma to unwind. Ryu was his vacation, and a welcome one. When he was Ryu, he wasn't Ranma Saotome, the best martial artist in the world. He wasn't Kami-sama's whipping boy. He wasn't having to look over his shoulder to watch for anyone. He was just Ryu Shinoda, a regular kid.

It wasn't untill Ranma had the chance to experience it that he saw just what it was that he'd been missing, and as he thought about it, he suddenly saw exactly why Akane resented him. He'd stormed into her life just as she was losing her own ability to be just a normal kid to Kunou and the Hentai Horde... and as he stormed in, shaking the foundation of her world by showing her magic was real, that what scientists and modern medicine said about the human body was wrong, that those half-remembered memories from Ryuugenzawa were not just some childish nightmare... He represented everything that quickly destroyed her ability to be just a normal person.

How often did other girls have to worry about winged women kidnapping them and using them to create a clone of themselves to fool their fiance? How often did other girls get turned into small dolls while their fiance battled a fire god in midair, only to get called back from the realm of the dead by his embittered cries? How often did other girls get their weddings crashed by their fiance's other potential brides to be?

"Whoa, Dai... check it out. Ranma's had too much. He's starting to have serious thoughts." Hiroshi said, shattering Ranma's contemplative mood as he looked up to see his two friends grinning at him. "I'd halt it right there, Saotome. You might use up all your brainpower tonight, and you won't have any left for later."

"He needs more, 'Roshi." Daisuke added with a grin, tossing Ranma a beer. He glanced at the paper in Ranma's hand. "So, you won, huh? 'Roshi told me about the twist in the bet and the fight... Well, you've earned it, man."

"I guess I have." Ranma said, refolding the piece of paper and pocketing it, to strange looks from his friends. He shrugged as he stood up, finally turning the shrug into a stretch.

"Yo, Ranma... You don't have to go through with it." Daisuke pointed out with the beer in his hand. "I mean, this just spells trouble, man. It's Akane's friend. You're not gonna call her, right? 'cause that'd be stupid, even for you. It'd be proof that you just used up all your thought juice sitting there."

"Dai, 'Roshi... I learned something tonight." Ranma said, walking to his friends and draping his hands over their shoulders. "But, I ain't learned everything. I'm not gonna call Sayuri. Ryu Shinoda is gonna call Sayuri, because he's a smart guy, and he's teaching me stuff I didn't even see untill now."

â€¢—â€¢â€¢—â€¢â€¢—â€¢

"Yo, Dai."

"Yeah, 'Roshi?"

"I think "Ryu" learned two things tonight, Dai."

"What's that, 'Roshi?"

"He learned whatever got him all philosophical right after Sayuri left, and then he learned his most important lesson tonight... There are some amounts of alchohol men are not meant to consume, even a man among men."

Daisuke, holding Ranma's head up by his hair as he heaved the contents of his stomache into a toilet, could only solemnly nod his head.

â€¢—â€¢â€¢—â€¢â€¢—â€¢

Author's Comments:

Alright, this is my first piece of published fanfiction. Yes, there are other pieces I've written, but this is the first I thought was decent enough to read. That said.... Comments and criticisms. This may sound like it's blatant ego-boosting, but comments and criticisms are the lifeblood of any author. If you liked this, then let me know what you liked AND what you didn't like. If you didn't like this, what about it struck you as off, and what could I do to change it?

Another thing, for those who care to leave a review: Where do you think this is going to go, just based on what you've read? I'd like to hear your thoughts, since I've got a pre-set plan in my head already and I'd like to see how it compares with everybody else's concept.

Also, I'm looking for a few pre-readers. Prereaders make my job easier, so if I can collect a couple of 'em who can take hard looks at my stories, it'd be great.

-Sammy

Revision Notes (This won't happen much, probably):

About the Dragon Whisker: That one's my bad, so I've changed it. It didn't really effect the story anyways, so it wasn't a major change. Thanks for pointing it out, however, since I somehow missed that story arc.

About Sayuri's Beauty: With the right use of makeup and clothing, it's very easy to look a lot better looking. Check any Before and After photos at some glamourshots-type studios and you'll easily see what I mean.


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